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Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Many people see their dog scooting across the
floor and assume they must have irritation due to worms. However, scooting across the floor is almost
never a symptom of intestinal worms.
Instead, it is almost always an indication that the dog’s anal glands
are full or impacted.

Every dog has two glands located on each side of
the anal sphincter. These glands are
filled with a liquid that is sprayed onto the fecal material when the dog
eliminates. The pressure of the fecal
material passing through the anal opening along with the constriction of the
anal muscle help to express the liquid out of the glands. When these glands do not empty normally, they
become overly full and the liquid can thicken into a paste-like material. The full glands cause an irritation and the
dog scoots on his butt in an attempt to empty the glands. Occasionally, the dog is successful and the
glands empty as a result of the scooting.
However, often times, the material inside the glands has become too
thickened and they will not empty when the dog scoots. In this case, the glands need to be manually emptied. This is something you can be taught to do for
him. However, due to the unpleasant
nature of the task, most people elect to take the dog to a professional (i.e.
vet, vet tech, or groomer) to have them emptied.

Several factors contribute to full anal
glands. Some breeds of dogs, especially
small terrier breeds, are prone to having anal gland problems. Hereditary issues, such as position of the
glands, can contribute to the dog not being able to empty the glands
naturally. However, most of the time, it
is an issue with diet. If the dog is
overweight, then the glands are cushioned by fat deposits and are not expressed
when the dog eliminates. Also, the diet
can cause the stool to be too soft. Therefore,
it does not apply enough pressure to express the glands when the dog
eliminates.

So, should you worry when you see your dog
scooting? Not necessarily. As I stated earlier, often times the dog is
able to get the job done by scooting.
However, if you see your dog scooting on a regular basis, and/or he
starts to bite at the area or act as if it is painful, then the glands are
probably impacted. Impacted glands can
rupture through the dog’s skin and cause a pretty nasty infection. Therefore, it is important to have the anal
glands checked anytime you see repeated episodes of scooting.

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

A major decision that you have to make for your
pet is whether or not you are going to have him or her spayed or neutered. So, should you spay or neuter your pet?
Absolutely!

Multiple benefits result from spaying or
neutering your pet. All of these
benefits add up to one thing: your pet will live significantly longer.

For female
dogs: Each time a female dog goes through a heat cycle, her chance of
developing breast cancer increases.
Therefore, it is important to have your female dog spayed prior to her
first heat cycle (approx. six months old).
Another major benefit is that the older your female dog gets, the
greater her chance for developing a uterine infection (pyometra). Pyometra can be life-threatening. The treatment is to have the dog spayed. The risk of surgery is much greater when you
have an infection involved. So, get your
dog spayed before the pyometra develops!

For male
dogs: Intact male dogs are at a much higher risk of developing prostate
cancer than neutered dogs. Also, intact
male dogs can develop testicular cancer.
Finally, intact males are more likely to wander away from home,
increasing the likelihood they will be involved in an accident (i.e. hit by a
car) or become lost.

So, as you can see, there are definite health
benefits to having your pet spayed or neutered.
But, again, your bottom line is that they will live significantly
longer. We do not have them for very
long as it is, so why wouldn't you want to extend that time?

Another point to consider is at what age they
should be spayed or neutered. I am a big
supporter of pediatric spays and neuters.
These surgeries are performed at 10-12 weeks of age. As long as the pet is over 2 lbs, then they
can undergo the surgery. Puppies that
are spayed or neutered at this young age heal much faster than older puppies. I worked in an animal shelter and performed
thousands of pediatric spays and neuters. It is amazing how quickly these puppies heal. They are up and moving right after the
anesthesia wears off, and the incision is gone within a few days.

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